Seax Finished -- myArmoury.com

Matt Lewis · Posted: Mon 29 Jun, 2009 7:49 am Post subject: Seax Finished

Well I finally finished my Seax ! a combination of no spare time and alot of bad luck meant it's completion has been delayed by months. I'm so pleased it is done !

It's about 19-20 inches long,and It has been made with materials that could be considered similar or close to what would have been available historically , it is a laminate of medium carbon steel cutting edge sandwiched between wrought iron, should make for a very tough blade, it's still hard enough to take and hold a good working edge too.

I would have liked to use bronze for the fittings for the sake of authenticity , however I was unable to obtain any at short notice for when I could steal some time in the workshop, so it is brass instead, the grip is red deer antler.

Cheers,

Matt

Tim Lison · Posted: Mon 29 Jun, 2009 8:57 am Post subject:

Really nice! It looks like it'll be comfortable to hold with that grip. I love the shape of the blade.

M. Eversberg II · Posted: Mon 29 Jun, 2009 9:34 am Post subject:

That is very beautiful work.

M.

Matt Lewis · Posted: Mon 29 Jun, 2009 12:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks chaps

It is indeed very comfy in the hand,looking forward to 'testing' it on some stuff at some point.

I'm hoping to do a pattern welded one next,i may even try my hand at some inlay, will have to see ............

M.

Jeroen Zuiderwijk · Industry Professional

Nice blade. Just mind that this kind of grip is not historical for saxes (despite the fact that nearly everyone in reenactment uses such hilts!).

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 12:58 am Post subject:

i think what one of your other commenters meant to say was that nearly all (if not all) antler peices from the periods that seaxes were in use were deliberately rasped to remove the outer texture,smoothed off and generally decorated.

sorry if that sounded a bit negative,the blade looks good,the fitting of the handle looks good,and your peening is good too
(this all coming from a bone and antler worker!)

Jeroen Zuiderwijk · Industry Professional

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 9:13 am Post subject:

M. Eversberg II · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 12:27 pm Post subject:

Dustin R. Reagan · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 12:56 pm Post subject:

Dustin R. Reagan · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject:

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 2:55 pm Post subject:

with antler it can really depend on what deer it comes from,but generally,the reds have a good level of thickness to work small peices from and probably best for knife handles as the change from cellular marrow to solid material changes at a resonable pace (reindeer does this quicker so you can get more to work with for composite combs for instance)
fallow is far more solid but more flakey i've found but i had used aged fallow antler,roe is pointless with topics such as these because the size and pearling(nobbly bits). the best way to get bone is either to let ants eat the fleshy left overs or lightly boils it and maybe bleaching it,cooked bone being far too britle for most things,but mostly if you want to know more ask the boneworkers god, Arthur MacGregor in Bone Antler Ivory and horn, A typology of skeletal materials.

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject:

Horn is bloody lovely but to tell the truth,currently i have limited knowledge on the stuff,but yes it was very flexible,on what it can be used for and literally! but i do think it is sometimes awkward to sort and sometimes,when well done, very practical and beautiful as well-and thats not a word i use often!

Kirk Lee Spencer · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Seax Finished

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 3:17 pm Post subject:

i would say that when it comes to the shape on the handle i have found the shape of pukko? knoives to be seemingly descended from the seax and the widening at the end has a purpose as to using as a pivot for choping wood when swinging the thing(as described by some bloke on a video on u tube) the item we are discussing varied in size from something small enough to scrape your fingernails with to something capable of splitting a boars skull and being as large as a sword,they vary so much and are talked about little generally,im enjoying this! Big Grin

K J Seago · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 3:20 pm Post subject:

and just to add that the shape also means that the knife is easier drawn from the sheath that can cover all but the last bit of the handle,as with the more modern scandinavian blades

Jim Adelsen · Industry Professional

Great looking seax. Definitely my style.

Matt Lewis · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject:

hey

Thanks for all the feedback,much appreciated ,especially the effort spent photoshopping an edited version, thanks.

I'm kinda of the opinion that so many Sax's etc have zero grip material left, it is far from Impossible that antler could/would be used.

It Is easy enough to work with and red deer are (as far as I am aware) pretty prolific in the uk . I can't think of a good reason why they would not use it as a grip material.

the texture on the surface and the shapes that you can choose out of a piece of antler allow you to make some very natural ,grippy and comfortable grips.

This one sits nicely in the hand , there are no problems with rubbing on the wrist (at least on my hand) I do agree the area around the bolster could be a little slimmer :o) as for the butt end I really like the shape and as mentioned before it does make it a whole lot easier to extract from a classic sax sheath.,not to mention that it helps with edge alignment too .

I think for my next one I will try and directly copy the shape of an original that appeals to me , that should cheer up the authentinazis and give me piece of mind ;o)

I'm very open for suggestions for my next attempt . blade shape/size/handle type

cheers guys,

Matt

G Ezell · Industry Professional

Dustin R. Reagan · Posted: Tue 30 Jun, 2009 8:27 pm Post subject: